After advancing his theories, Dr. Lister, who was on staff at Edinburgh Hospital, was invited to join the staff of the King's College Hospital in London. He, like Pasteur, was not always approved of by colleagues. The two, however, became personal friends and supported each other under sometimes vicious attacks. In fact, when Pasteur was honored publicly at the age of 70, he bowed to Dr. Lister and said, "the future belongs to him who has done the most for suffering humanity."

Following Lister's speech in Philadelphia in 1876, a Missouri physician, Joseph Lawrence, developed an antiseptic liquid in 1879, which he called Listerine, in honor of Dr. Lister. The famous mouthwash was actually first used in the operating room as a disinfectant.